Lapel camera cables are designed to break, according to the Albuquerque Police Department.

Lapel video from an Albuquerque police officer involved in a deadly shooting does not exist. According to a report, the officer using the camera may not have been the one to turn it off.

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Officer Jeremy Dear shot and killed Mary Hawkes in late April.

"They are actually meant to break away," said Deputy Chief William Roseman, of the cable that connects a battery to an officer's lapel camera. "They're not meant to hold ... the way the company developed those cables is that if someone were to take it and wrap it around your neck, that that cable would actually break."

A Taser camera is commonly worn with the battery holstered onto an officer's belt. The cable is then snaked up and around to the camera that sits on an officer's shoulder.

There's a lot of focus on the cable, because Taser says it may be why Dear didn't have video of when he shot Mary Hawkes. Taser released a report comparing Dear's camera with a brand new one. It points out how a clip that held Dear's cable and battery together was missing. Taser can't say if the cable disconnected, or if Dear turned off his camera.

It did say that during Dear's encounter with Hawkes, the camera switched on and off numerous times.

"You have a monthly inspection that a sergeant performs on the officers, and he's looking to see if you have all your equipment and everything's cared for," said Roseman, but he couldn't say when Dear's camera was last inspected. APD also couldn't say how long Dear has had the camera or if he's ever needed it repaired.

Action 7 News obtained Dear's personnel file. According to records, this isn't the first time he had no video of an incident. Dear has failed to produce video in two other cases.

KOAT asked if his questionable camera record was just a coincidence. Roseman said, "I can't get into that because we still have the ongoing investigation. Any of that stuff will be part of that investigation."

But according to APD current lapel camera policy, "It says you will record an incident in its entirety. That's the bottom line," said Roseman.

Since Dear didn't record the incident, Action 7 News asked why is it that Dear hasn't been punished yet. "Because you've got to understand these investigations take awhile," said Roseman.

In the meantime, Dear has been assigned to a desk job. Police say he does not patrol the streets.

As for the department's lapel camera policy, police say they're looking to change it with direction from the Department of Justice.

APD says it will continue to use Taser cameras. However, because of Officer Dear's investigation, it's asked the manufacturer for some changes, including how to differentiate when a camera is turned off by its user versus when a cable becomes disconnected.